Injongo’s pupils sing their way to the top

Teachers and pupils in a jovial mood after the school won a water and sanitation competition held in Joburg a fortnight ago.

Teachers and pupils at Injongo Primary School, in Khayelitsha, are beaming with pride as they snatched the number one spot in the music category at the Department of Water Affairs’ water and sanitation competition held in Port Elizabeth recently.

Nine schools representing their provinces, battled it out for the number one spot in the music and drama categories under the theme “Washing of hands, use and care of sanitation facilities for a healthy lifestyle, and water conversation”.

The school also grabbed the second spot in the drama category.

Principal Sithembile Mhletywa told Vukani that the school walked away with the Baswa Le Meetse trophy and a media class that would be built by MTN as soon as they re-open after the holidays.

He said their focus now was to convert their computer lab into a dancing studio to offer acting, drama and music classes to their pupils.

But, he said, their ultimate goal was to transform their school and offer all the services rendered by the former Model C schools in affluent suburbs.

Mr Mhletywa said the school was not only excelling in music and drama, but had also improved their results at the systemic evaluation tests written by Grade 3 and 6 pupils across the province.

The school is also in the process of revamping their sports field. They have raised R28 000 for this but the total cost of the field is R128 000.

“I say kudos to the pupils for taking the competition seriously and also obeying the instructions of their teachers and for not skipping their practice sessions.

“But I bow down to the teachers here at school for showing their unwavering support to the pupils and at times they had to fork money out of their own pockets to buy food and pay transport costs for the pupils and not a single day did they complain.

“We are proud that we have produced the likes of Mark Mayambela and his young brother Mihlali who are both professional football players who have travelled the world. “Currently Mihlali is based in Sweden where is plying his trade.

“And by refurbishing the field, we want to give pupils who have talent in sport a platform to showcase their God-given skills,” he said.

Spokeperson for the provincial Department of Water and Affairs, Pheto Ntaba, confirmed that the school would indeed receive a media class that would consist of 21 computers and it had also walked away with a cash prize of R11 000.

She said the Baswa Le Meetse award was aimed at recognising the role played by pupils in awareness campaigns related to water and sanitation.